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‘File 16/37A-I Anti-Locust Measures’ [228v] (456/900)
The record is made up of 1 file (448 folios). It was created in 31 Aug 1942-18 May 1943. It was written in English and Arabic. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
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to cause a great deal of damage to crops, while the yellow swarms, though
not so destructive, are more dangerous as they will lay eggs before long.
The young hoppers, when they hatch out in large numbers in any locality,
gradually unite into bands and begin to march from place to place, eating
up all vegetation along their path.
The aim of locust control operations is to destroy all locusts rather than
protect individual areas of crops. To be effective the operations must
prevent another generation reaching the flying stage. It is no solution of
the problem to move locusts on to adjoining areas.
Control operations can be carried out against the locust in all stages of
its life history.
Flying locusts. —This is obviously the most difficult stage at which to
deal with locusts, and complete control during this stage cannot be expected.
But by the measures described below much can be done.
(a) By night .—When the locusts are collected on crops or trees and are
sluggish at night or the early morning,
(1) on bare ground, they can be beaten or swept up ;
(2) when the locusts have settled on bushes or hedges especially on
waste land, they can be burnt [Method 1 (a), Appendix] ;
(3) on valuable trees, they can be shaken down and destroyed ;
(4) when the locusts are resting on crops, they can be collected by
hand and destroyed.
(h) By day. (1) When locusts have settled on crops or waste land to
feed they are often easily disturbed, but if not they can be dealt with by
the use of insecticidal baits (Method 4, Appendix).
(2) Valuable crops like vegetables or fruits can be protected by a spray
of decoction of neem leaves, as it has a deterrent effect on locusts. It is
cheap and effective.
(c) Locusts usually pair on fallow or waste land or sandy soil where they
will lay eggs. During pairing they can be destroyed by crushing or burning.
{d) When actually laying eggs, the females are still more easily destroyed
by crushing.
The result of these methods will be progressively to reduce the size
of the swarms before they lay eggs.
Control of Eggs.— The soundest, cheapest and most effective method
of control is to prevent a new generation from hatching, or from leaving the
breeding ground after hatching. Hence one of the main objects at this
stage is to locate areas where eggs have been laid with a view to organiz
ing measures of destruction.
Location of breeding grounds.— It is essential to the complete
success of the campaign that all breeding grounds should be found and
notified with the least possible delay. If this cannot be achieved by other
means, adequate rewards should be offered for such information, especially
for information regarding breeding grounds in uncultivated areas. A scale
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About this item
- Content
Correspondence, reports and other papers relating to efforts, undertaken by representatives of the Middle East Anti-Locust Unit (MEALU), to control desert locusts (first reported in western India in August 1942 (f 3)) along the Arab coast between Bahrain and Oman. The principal correspondents include: the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Bahrain (Edward Birkbeck Wakefield); the Chief Locust Officer (Reginald Charles Maxwell-Darling) and Locust Officer (Leslie Desmond Edward Foster Vesey-Fitzgerald) of MEALU, who arrived in Bahrain to carry out their work in October 1942; the Defence Officer for the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Lieutenant-Colonel H T Hewitt); representatives of the California-Arabian Standard Oil Company (CASOC); and representatives of the Bahrain shipping agent Gray, Mackenzie & Company.
The file includes:
- reports from Maxwell-Darling and Vesey-Fitzgerald, as well as from numerous other British officials from across the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. region, including the British Minister at Tehran, Sir Reader William Bullard, on locust observations. The observations include estimations of the size of swarms, movement and direction of insects, age and colour of animals;
- correspondence relating to arrangements for the shipment of locust poison bait from the Sudan Government in Khartoum, to Bahrain;
- correspondence relating to the arrangements of facilities for the MEALU team on the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. , chiefly arrangements for suitable vehicles (arranged with the assistance of CASOC and the Defence Officer for the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ), experienced drivers and motor mechanics, finances, and rations;
- papers issued by MEALU, including instructions on reporting locust swarms (ff 136-137), and notes on locust campaigns in sparsely inhabited countries (ff 194-195, ff 385-386);
- a copy of a booklet entitled Methods of Locust Control , produced by the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research and published by the Government of India Press, Calcutta [Kolkota], 1941 (ff 226-236);
- a reprint of an academic journal article entitled Some results of studies of the Desert Locust (Schistocerca Gregaria, Forsk.) in India , by Rao Bahadur Y Ramchandra Rao (ff 266-278). The article is a reprint from the Bulletin of Entomological Research , volume 33, part 3, published December 1942;
- some papers relating to anti-locust activities in southern Iran.
The file contains a single letter in Arabic, a letter to the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. from the Ruler of Qatar, Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Jāsim Āl Thānī (f 334).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (448 folios)
- Arrangement
The file’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order, from the earliest item at the front to the latest at the end. The file notes at the end of the file (ff 424-449) mirror the chronological arrangement.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 450; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-423; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
- Written in
- English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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‘File 16/37A-I Anti-Locust Measures’ [228v] (456/900), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/1544, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100034852387.0x000039> [accessed 9 July 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/2/1544
- Title
- ‘File 16/37A-I Anti-Locust Measures’
- Pages
- 226r:236v
- Author
- Indian Council of Agricultural Research
- Copyright
- ©Indian Council of Agricultural Research
- Usage terms
- Creative Commons Non-Commercial Licence